The subject matter disclosed herein relates to ultrasonic probes, in particular, an integrated active ultrasonic probe that is connectable to a plurality of computing devices.
Nondestructive testing devices can be used to inspect, measure, or test objects to identify and analyze anomalies in the objects. These devices allow an inspection technician to maneuver a probe at or near the surface of the test object in order to perform testing of both the object surface and its underlying structure. Nondestructive testing can be particularly useful in some industries, e.g., aerospace, power generation, and oil and gas transport or refining (e.g., pipes and welds). The inspection of test objects must take place without removal of the object from surrounding structures, and where hidden anomalies can be located that would otherwise not be identifiable through visual inspection. Ultrasonic testing is one example of nondestructive testing. When conducting ultrasonic testing, ultrasonic pulses or beams are emitted from ultrasonic transducers mounted in a probe and pass through a test object. As the ultrasonic energy, in the form of pulses or beams, pass through the object, various ultrasonic reflections called echoes occur as the ultrasonic beams interact with internal structures (e.g., anomalies or surfaces) of the test object. These echoes are detected by the ultrasonic transducers and are analyzed by processing electronics connected to the ultrasonic transducers.
A phased array ultrasonic probe comprises a plurality of electrically and acoustically independent ultrasonic transducers that incorporate piezoelectric material and are mounted in a single probe housing. During operation, predetermined patterns of electrical pulses are generated and transmitted to the probe. The electrical pulses are applied to the electrodes of the phased array transducers causing a physical deflection in the piezoelectric material which generate ultrasonic energy (e.g., ultrasonic signals or beams) that is transmitted through the test object to which the probe is coupled. By varying the timing of the electrical pulses applied to the phased array ultrasonic transducers, the phased array ultrasonic probe generates ultrasonic beams that impact the test object at different angles. This process of beam steering facilitates an efficient inspection of different regions of the test object to completely detect anomalies therein. The amplitude and firing sequence of the individual transducers of the phased array probe can be programmably controlled in order to adjust the angle and penetration strength of the ultrasonic beam that is emitted into the test object. When the resulting ultrasonic echo returns to contact the surface of the piezoelectric material of a transducer it generates a detectable voltage difference across the transducer's electrodes which is then recorded as echo data by the processing electronics, and includes an amplitude and a delay time. By tracking the time difference between the transmission of the electrical pulses and the receipt of the echo data, and measuring the amplitude of the received echo data, various characteristics of the test object can be determined such as its thickness, or the depth and size of anomalies therein.
In some applications, the ultrasonic probe is connected to a dedicated processing station by cables which can be several meters long. The processing station drives the ultrasonic probe via the cables and the cables carry analog echo data detected by the transducers during a scanning inspection back to the processing station for analysis. The length of the cables tends to create added noise in the returning echo data. The processing station includes signal processing electronics for analyzing the echo data and a display screen for displaying the results of any analyses. The processing station hardware must match the type of the ultrasonic probe providing the echo data and is typically custom manufactured for each type of ultrasonic probe. For example, a probe having 128 transducers requires the same number of conductors in the cable to transmit echo data from each of the transducers in the probe head back to the processing station. For phased array ultrasonic probes containing such a large number of transducers, or more, the probe cable between the phased array probe and the processing station can be quite dense and is difficult to maneuver.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.